Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence. Appointive deputy mayors serve at the pleasure of the mayor and may function as chief operating officers; in some large communities such as New York City, there are multiple deputy mayors who handle coordination of specific policy areas. There may be within the same municipal government a deputy mayor or mayors appointed by the mayor to policy areas and a popularly-elected vice mayor who serves as the mayor's successor in the event the office is vacated by death, resignation, disability, or impeachment.

In other cities the vice mayor presides over the city council, and may not vote except to break ties. Like the deputy mayor in other systems, the popularly-elected vice mayor becomes acting mayor in the mayor's absence. As previously noted, in some few cities, this office is elected separately and does not entail the elevation by the council of one of its members to be speaker. In some U.S. cities, the mayor and deputy or vice mayor run together as a ticket similar to how president and vice president run at the national level.